Make a Day of It in Hutchinson on April 16, 2013

10:30 a.m.Elizabeth Smart speaks at the Dillon Lecture Series at Hutchinson Community College at 10:30 a.m. in the Sports Arena. Cost is $10 and tickets can be purchased at the door. At the age of 14, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her family home in Utah. Miraculously, Smart was returned to her family after being held prisoner and subjected to repeated rape and abuse at the hands of her captors for nine months.

Lunch
Try Jillian’s Italian Grill downtown at Main and 3rd. Jillian’s serves a full menu, including wood-fired pizza, great hummus, and roasted red pepper gouda soup. Check out the menu online.

Early Afternoon
Do some shopping in the antique district downtown. Bear Blessings and Armstrong Antiques are just two great shops to visit. Also pop into the Et Cetera Shop, which features thrift items on one side and fair-trade items from around the world in the other half of the store. It’s run by the Mennonite Central Committee and profits support hunger relief around the world.

Later in the Afternoon
Visit the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. A Smithsonian affiliated museum, the Cosmosphere has the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside of Moscow. They have the actual Apollo 13 capsule on display, as well as a moon rock.

OR

Visit the Kansas Underground Salt Museum. It’s one of a kind and includes a trip 650 feet underground. You’ll see where salt has been mined and enjoy a museum that includes movie memorabilia. Leave time for the Dark Ride and the Train Ride underground – you don’t want to miss either one.

Dinner
Try Skaets, which is an old fashioned diner. They’ve been serving up moon burgers since we were going to the moon regularly. It’s a bacon cheeseburger and after 5 p.m. you can get it cooked on the charcoal, while you watch. Fries and hash browns are fresh and cut on site. They serve breakfast all day. They don’t have a website, but check out reviews on Trip Advisor.